Gwinnett County public libraries could close at least one day per week later this year as the system struggles to balance its budget.
In recent months the library has reduced staff and trimmed other spending to postpone service cuts. But library officials say they can’t avoid reducing hours much longer.
“We’re struggling to keep the libraries open as long as we can under these difficult budget conditions,” said Phillip Saxton, Gwinnett library board vice chairman at a budget workshop on Monday.
Gwinnett and other metro Atlanta library systems have reduced services as cash-strapped local governments cut spending. Cobb County has twice cut library hours in recent months. DeKalb County closed its Briarcliff branch in October and delayed opening its Stonecrest library.
Gwinnett closed its libraries on Sundays and Mondays for a time in 2009. The library board later restored seven-day service but reduced weekly operating hours from 71 to 53. Gwinnett officials say another reduction in hours is coming.
In January the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners reduced county library funding by $2.8 million, or 15 percent. State funding has been reduced by $138,000, or 13 percent.
Library Executive Director Nancy Stanbery-Kellam hasn’t proposed a specific reduction in hours. And she said she doesn’t know exactly when the cuts will come. But she expects the county’s 15 branches to close at least one day a week later this year.
Stanbery-Kellam said the library has postponed those cuts in recent months by reducing staff through attrition and trimming other spending. By the end of the current fiscal year in June, the library system will have cut spending by more than $1.4 million.
More cuts are coming in the library’s 2012 budget, which takes effect in July. Under the proposed budget unveiled Monday, the Gwinnett library system would:
- Eliminate through attrition 34 full-time classified positions and add 40 non-classified staffers working about 17 hours a week, with no benefits.
- Freeze employee salaries. Library employees have not received a raise since 2008.
- Rely on more than $2.7 million in reserve funds to help cover costs.
The proposed $21.2 million general and state fund budget is about 6.4 percent less than this year’s spending plan. Library officials expect more cuts through 2014 as revenues continue to decline.
Board member Dick Goodman said library officials should “prepare for the worst, and you won’t be disappointed.”
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